Apparatus for controlling firing on board warships



APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING FIEPLENG ON BOARD WARSHIPS Fileii Jazz. 5,1922 3 $hae1ia-$hae 1 E. SCHNEIDER APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING FIRING ONBOARD WARSHIPS F1186 Jan. 5, 1922 3 Sheets-Shaw Z Wilm i I I l I l I l II l I I I l I I l I I l I l I l I I I I I I I I I l l I I I I I I I I II I l I I I I l I I l I l E. SCHNEHDER APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING FIRINGOHCBOARD WARSHIPS s Sheets-Shaw 5 Filed Jan. 5. 1922 Patent Sept. 2,1924a 'EUG-ENE SCHNEIDER, O'F PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO SCHNEIDER &CIEL, OF PARIS,

FRANCE, A LIMITED JOINT STOCK COMPANY OF FRANCE, AND JOSEPH LOUISROUTIN', OF PARIS, FRANCE.

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING FIRING ON BOARD WARSHIPS.

Application filed January 5, 1922. Serial No. 527,277.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE a citizen of the Republic of France, at 42Rue dAnjou, Paris, France,

SOHNnIDER, residing have 1n- 5 vented new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Controlling Firin on Board Warships, which is fully setorth in the following specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an improved apparatus forcontrolling filed Jan. 5, 1922, there is described an apparatus forcontrolling the firing on land against aerial targets. This apparatuswhich is hereinafter referred to by the expression corrector comprisesmeans for continuously indicating, at points adjacent a gun, or guns,the proper angles of train and elevation to which the gun must be laidin order that a particular target may be destroyed when the gun isfired. The appa ratus is such'that no sighting telescopes are it beingonly necessary,

required at the gun,

and elevating in order for the training pointers to properly performtheir duties, to train and elevate the gun to such a position that theneedles of an angle of train voltmeter and an angle of elevationvoltmeter are brought to predetermined positions, 1. e zero position.The apparatus automatically transmits readings corrected for thezenithaliand azimuthal speeds of the target, range and windage. Thecorreotor also transmits, fuse settings which makes it necessary tomaintain a regular rate of fire in order that the projectiles may befired at the exact moment corresponding to the mechanicalpredetermination of the value of the fuse settings.

In my copending application, Sr. No. 527,276, filed Jan. 5, 1922, thereis described an apparatus for automatically and continuously correctingthe training of mounted on board. a vessel, in acco ance with theinclinations of the trunnions of said uns produced by the pitching ofthe vessef This apparatus comprises a gyroscope which controls a movablemember,

.tion, correc-tors of. the

deviation due to gun barrel encloses with the horizon the uns,

means being interposed between said gyroscope and member for moving thelatter through an angular distance proportional to the product of theangle of inclination, relative to a horizontal plane, of the trunnionsof said guns and the tangent of the angle of elevation of the guns.

The present invention is ployed in combination with the corrector andapparatus for correcting the angle of train in accordance with theinclination of the gun trunnions. It may, however, be employed incombination with any other suit able follow the pointer system.

When the, fire control apparatus forming the subject-matter of thisinvention is employed in combination with the apparatus described in mytwo applications referred to above, it allows of:

1. Employing on board warships, notwithstanding their rolling andpitching mokind described in the aforesaid application.

2; Regulating the rhythm of the firing in accordance with the rhythm ofthe correctors. i

3. Where the firing takes place when reaching proper elevation,correcting the the angular displacement of the gun barrel during thetime which lapses between the firing of the gun and the instant when theprojectile leaves the gun barrel.

4. Efi'ecting automatically in a continuous manner the correction of theaiming necessitated by the inclination of the gun trunmons. j

The invention consists essentially in the combination of a correctormounted ona roscopic support, with gun barrels provided each on the onehand with a gyrosco pic preferably emdevice for effecting automaticallythe firing of the gun at the momentwhen the axis of the '95 proper angledetermined by the corrector, and on the other hand with a device foreffecting an automatic and continuous compensation for the deviation dueto the inclination of the gun trunnions.

It has already been proposed to employ certain devices for the automaticfiring of under the control of an electric firing switch which formspart of the corrector. In order that the firing shall have the greatestpossible intensity, it is important to aim continuously and to fire asexactly as possible with the frequency compelled by the -use of thecorrector, and which, if t, is the number of seconds that are necessaryfor setting the fuse and loading the gun, will be shots per minute. Forthis purpose, therefore, it is advisable not only to connect the specialswitch with which the corrector is in series with the correspondingautomatic switch of each gun, in such a manner that the firing can onlytwo switches are closed simultaneously, but also. to provideon the gun amechanism actuated by a gun server who is specially appointed to controlthe firing. The function of this gun server is to maintain the gunbarrel in the immediate vicinity of the position corresponding toautomatic firing in order that hetcan release the firingmechanism assoon as he-shall have been notified by, an optical or an acoustic signalof the circumstance when the switch of the corrector has just beenclosed temporarily, because in order that the fuse settin shall remainpractically utilizable this 0 osing 'of the switch cannot be maintainedfor longer than one to two seconds as a maximum.

en the firing is controlled, as above stated, the deviation in elevationdue, to the absolute angular velocity of the gun barrel in its rockingmovements, may be rendered negligible by utilizing in the proper mannerthe mechanism which is actuated by the un server appointed. to controlthe firing. %or this purpose it is suflicient to limit to a very smalamount the absolute an lar velocity of the gun barrel in space at t emoment of the projectile leaving the gun.

When the duration T of oneoscillation of the ship is greater than t,,the apparatus forming the subject matter of the present invention mayalso be emplo ed b imparting to the corrector for die r ythm of thefiring, a periodic rhythm adjustedto the frequency of the oscillationsof the ship, and controlling the firing in an entirely auto-jmaticmanner.

The gun being such a manner as to enclose constantly with a line of ori'n marked on its carria e, the angle of inc ination i transmitted y thecorrector the firing must then take place at the instant when the lineof origin marked b if tdh ee ec e W 1 firing it will then be assumed tobe handledin on the gun carriage encloses with the horizon an angleequal to:

the correction being the variation of the an le of rolling): during theconstant time 'w w 'ich lapses tween the firing and the instant when theprojectile leaves the gun barrel.

Now if R is the maximum amplitude, of the rolling motion I get theequation r=R sin 2 and u %=u2 R cos It will thus be perceived that thecorrection to'be made is proportional to the maxinium amplitude R of therollin motion. In order to make the necessary a vance in the suflicientto et automatically the measure of R for eac oscillation of the ship,and to shift the firing pointer, alwaysautomaticall and proportionatelyto the value thus ound.

vThe obtaining of this result is one of the essential characteristicfeatures of this invention.

Figs. 1 and 2 are diagrammatic figures illustrating the correctoi"combined with a gyroscopic support similar to that employed in theaforesaid apparatus for correcting the angle of train of the guns inaccordance with the inclinationof the gun trunnions.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic figure illustrat-- which must be taken intoconsideration when firing by assin properelevation.

In Figgll an? illustrating throng h 2 whic respectively the frontelevation and the side elevation of the corrector mounted on agyroscopic support, 1 is a casing containing a. gyrosco with verticalaxis, whose rotation. is mamtained for instance by means of an electricmotor. This casing is suspended by means of a Garden joint around twoaxes 2 and 3 at ri ht angles o each other, from the fork 4 which servesare. two elevations structed as to produce neutral equilibrium.

5 is a casing containing'all the parts of the corrector and it ismounted on 1 in such a manner as to be capable of being trainedrelatively to the latter. 6 is a ring suspended from the lower art of 5by four arms 7; it is designed to balance'the combination 1, 5, 6, 7relatively to the suspensory arrangement.

8 and 9 are two spirit levels employed for correcting "the smalldeviations due to the precession of the gyroscope. For-this purpose twogun servers exert temporarily upon the member 10 a couple at rightangles to the movement which must be made in order to bring back thespirit level bubbles between'their marks. 11 and 12' are the twotelescopes of the corrector; their eye pieces are fitted withvery-supple rubber fittings 1'3 and 14 in order to prevent the gunservers from exerting a disturbing action upon the equilibrium of theapparatus. With the sameobject the different parts for manoeuvring thecorrector are to be actuated by means of very supple flexible shafts orpref erably by means of small electric motors mounted on the correctorcasing.v

15 is a circular rail composed of steel tubing intended to afford apoint of support for the gun aimers and the operators of the apparatus,and upon which may be mounted the handles for controlling the flexibleshafts or parts controlling the electrical motors acting upon thecorrector. This rail is fixed in one direction to the fork 4, and in theother direction to the fork 16, that is fixed to 4.

Instead of adjusting the horizontal direction of the casing 5 relativelyto 1, it is. obvious that it can be moved by rotating the fork 4relatively to the axis of its support, by merely shifting 5 relativelyto 1 through the angle of drift or deviatio The correctors? intended tobe mounted,

upon gyrosco ic supports must be so constructed tha t e centre ofgravity of each rotatingpart in the axis of rotation.

In the dia' ammatic Fig. 3 it has been assumed that t e transmission ofthe an le of inclination to be iven to the gun arrel was effected byutllizin 'll be situate are two rheostats arranged in the form of an arcof a circle and. located on the corrector and the gun carriagerespectively.

19 is a storage battery feeding 17 and 18: 20 and 21 are two movablecontacts connected in series by a circuit that'includes a voltmeter 22.The contact 20 is moved automatically by the corrector through an angleproportional to the inclination to be given to the gun barrel. Thecontact 21,

the known prin-' ciple of the Wheatstone ridge. 17 and I8 to a wormwheel 23, is kept constantly vertical by means of a gyrescopic deviceshown in detail in Fig. 4. The rheostat18 is carried by a wheel 24mounted loose on the shaft of the gyroscope, and upon which shaft thereis said worm wheel 23. 25 is a worm meshing with worm wheel 23 andjournalled in two bearings 26 and 27 mounted upon 24. This worm is actmeans of a hand crank 28. I

The orders transmitted by the correcf tor are executed by the elevating-gun server whose duty is to move' 18 and consequently 24 relatively to21, by acting upon 28 in such a manner that the ointe'r of the voltmeter22 shall be constant y maintained at zero.

. The gyroscopic device situated near the gun barrel, is mounted on thegun carriage in such a manner that the wheel 24, like the whole composedof the arts shown in Fig. 3, will remain constant y in planes paralleltothe plane of the firing.

29 represents the projection of the axis of one of the trunnions of thegun barrel or of the un cradle. 30 is a toothed sector fixed to t etrunnions 29, meshing with a worm 31 journalled in two bearings fixed tothe gun carriage; this sector is rotated by means of the hand crank 32.-

33 is a leaf spring arranged alon one of the radii of the sector" 30 andelectrically insulated from the latter; 34 is a pointer carried by aparallel motion 35-36-37--38 jointed at 35 on an axle pin fixed to thegun carriage, at 37 on an axle pin fixed to I revolutions per minutev(t,,, being the number of seconds required for setting the fuse andloadin the gun).

The deve opment of the rotary sector that assures the contact and theconnections of the interrupter with the other members of the corrector,are such that contact will be established automatically one secondbefore the exact instant when the firing should be effectedtheoretically, and is broken only one second after the said instant.

40 is an electric lamp which receives cur- 24, and at 38- on the centreof the" ated by rent from the battery 19 during the entire period'when39 remains closed. 41 is an electro-magnet which produces the firing andcomes into operation only on condition that 33 shall be brought intocontact with without abruptness so as to reduce to a minimum theabsolute angular velocity of the gun barrel in space at the instant offiring the shot.

In Fig. t which illustrates the details of the mounting of the wheels 23and 24' and of the parts carried'by them, 42 is a casing containing agyroscope'with vertical axis whose motion is maintained for instance bymeans of an electric motor. This casing is suspended in neutralequilibrium around two axle pins 43 and 44 at right angles to each otherfrom the fork 45 which serves it as a support and which is fixed to thegun carriage in such a manner that 44 will be parallel to the axis ofthe gun barrel trun-' nions. 4-6 is a spirit level mounted on the casing42; it is employed for maintaining the axle pin 43 horizontal.

In Fig. 5 which illustrates diagrammatically by way of example themanner in which may be constructed the apparatus for givingautomatically the correction which must be taken into consideration whenfiring by passing through proper elevation, that is, when firing on theroll, 47 is a supporting plate fixed to the n carriage parallel to thelane of the ring. 48 1s a shaft mounted on 47 and around which a toothedwheel 49, fixed to a ratchet wheel 50, is capable of rotating freely. 51is a pawl which is capable of rotating around an axle pin 52 and which areturnin spring 53 has a constant tendency to keep earin against 50. 54is a lever fixed to 4:9, an

which a returning spring has a tendency to keep bearing against a stop56. 57 and 58 are two shafts fixed on 47; around them is adapted to rockthe jointed parallelogram 57-585960. 61 is a pinion fixed to the lever57-59. 62 is a gearing pinion for imparting to &9 a rotational motion inthe same direction as that of 61 but reduced to a suitable ratio. 63 isa stop rod fixed to the lever 59-60. 64 is a lever fixed to a9; itcarries at its end an insulated metal strip 65 which shares all themovements of the guncarriage. 66 is a rod which carries a secondinsulated metal strip 67, and which is connected to a gyroscopicapparatus in such a manner that the line uniting 48 to 66 will beconstantly directed along the vertica 68 is a lever fixed to 51 andarranged in such a manner as to move 51 away from when 68 strikes 66.The firing is efiected automatically by the closing of an electriccircuit each time the movable contact 65 in rotating in the .directionof the arrow meets the contact 67. g

It is eas to prove that at the moment when the ring takes place thecontact 65 will have been shifted in advance through an angleproportionate'to the maximum amplitude of the rolling motion of the shipthereby allowing of effecting automatically the correction of thedetermined deviation, as hereinbefore stated. Namely, if we considerwhat has taken place between the half period that has precededthiscontact, it will e perceived that when the plate 47 in rotating inthe opposite direction to that of the arrow (Fig. 5) has passed throughthe vertical position, 63 having been arrested against 66, theparallelogram 57-58- 5960 has become deformed and the pinion 61 is thusrotated in the direction of the arrow relatively to 47, through an angleequal to R, thereby producinga proportional dis lacement of 65 in'thesame direction aroun 48.

As the rocking motion continues, the plate 4:7 is moved back again inthe direction of the arrow whilst the dis lacement of 65 was maintainedby the paw 51, and the firing has thus been effected with the requisiteadvance.

Immediately after contact has been made between 65 and 67, the lever 68strikes 66, which action, b moving 51 temporarily away from 50, al owethe spring to return 54 on to 56 so that will have been ,brou ht intothe position which this member shou d occupy in order that the sameseries of effects shall be able to be repeated on the next oscillation.

The improved apparatus just hereinbefore described produces only onefire for each complete oscillation. It is, however. obvious that thisfiring can he produced in an ascending or descending period according asto whether the apparatus is mounted on the gun carriage to the left orto the right of the gun barrel assuming the latter to be viewed from theridge end). It is then very easy to fire two shots for every completeoscillation by employing two identically similar apparatus mounted oneither side of the gun barrel, and connecting in parallel the circuitsof their electric interrupters.

in the case where the target is not an aeriai target, the sightingstation which of firing are still applicable to this case but,

it is preferable to employ the firing when reaching proper .elevationand it is to be noted that in such a case the automatic correctorillustrated in Fig. 5 may have considerable importance because with gunsof large calibre the deviation may reach and even exceed the magnitudeof one degree.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed,,I declare thatwhat I claim is l. Ordnance apparatus comprising, in

combination with a gun, a corrector for.

transmitting angles of train and elevation to said gun, and meansforcorrecting the angle of train of the gun in accordance with the angleof inclination of the trunnions of the same, a parallelogram mountedadjacent to said gun, a contact for the firing circuit of the gunoperatively connected to said parallelogram for actuation thereby, a.second contact for completing said firing circuit when engaged by saidfirst named contact, and a gyroscope for controlling the movement to beimparted to'said first named contact by said parallelogram.

2. An apparatus for contrcllinggun fire on board ship comprising, incombination with a corrector, stabilizing means positioned adjacent oneof the guns to be controlled, a jointed parallelogram, an elementoperatively connected with said parallelogram and controlled by saidstabilizing means, and a contact element operatively connected with thecarriage of said gun.

3. A firing mechanism for guns comprising, in combination with a gun, afiring circuit, stabilizing means positioned adjacent said gun, meansincluding a ointed parallelogram maintained in a plane parallel to theplane of fire of said gun and having operative engagement with saidstabilizing means, and a contact for closing s'aid circuit operativelyconnected to said parallelogram.

4. A firing mechanism for a gun comprising a plate secured to thecarriage of said gun, a plurality of gear wheels rotatably mounted onsaid plate, means for rotating said gears through an angular distanceproportional totheangle of roll of the ship on which said mechanism ismounted, a stabihzer for controlling the movement of said means, acontact member secured to said stabilizer, and a second contact memberoperatively connected to one of said ears.

5. A device of the class describe comprising, a stabilizer positionedadjacenta gun, a contact point mounted on said stabilizer, a secondcontact point, and means including a jointed parallelogram positioned onthe mount of said gun operatively connected to said last-named contactpoint for rotating the latter, through an angular distance proportionalto the angle through which said gun moves between the instant of firingthe gun and the instant when a projectile leaves the gun barreL.

6. A device of the class described comprising, in combination with a gunand an electric circuit for firing said a stabilizer, a contactcontrolled by said stabilizer, a movable contact, and mechanical meansfor automatically moving said last-named contact through an angulardistance proportional to the maximum amplitude of the rolling motion ofa ship on which said gun is mounted.

7. Ordnance apparatus for use aboard a ship comprising, 1n combination,agun, a corrector for transmitting angles of train and elevation to saidgun, a gyroscope for stabilizing said corrector, and firing mechanismfor said gun including a jointed parallelogram, a firing contact forclosing the electrical circuit ofsaid firing mechanism and adapted to bemoved by said parallelogram and means for controlling the movement ofsaid parallelogram.

8. Ordnance apparatus for use aboard a ship comprising in combination, agun, a

corrector for transmitting angles of train and elevation to said gun, asupport for said corrector, a gyroscope for stabilizing said support,and means for automatically firing said gun at the instant the latterreaches the desired inclination including a movable contact, and meansfor automatically advancing said contact through an angle proportionalto the angle through which the gun moves between the instant of firingthe gun and the instant when the projectile leaves the gun.

9'. Ordnance apparatus for use on board ship comprising, in combinationwith one or more guns, a corrector, and means for firing said gun orguns including an electric circuit breaker, a gyroscope for stabilizingone of the contacts of said circuit breaker, a parallelogram mounted forengagement with the support of said stabilized contact, a ratchetmechanism and gearing for imparting the movement of said parallelogramto said ratchet mechanism, the second contact of said circuit breakerbeing shifted by said ratchet mechanism through an angular distancecorresponding to the maximum am ligagement of said contaots shall beeffected tude of the rolling motion of the ship be ore to fire the gunwhen said gun is at the each time of firing. propen anglenotwithstanding the rolling of 10. Ordnance apparatus for use on board eIP- 5 ship comprising, in combination, a gun, and In test mony whereof Ihave slgned th1s 15 firing means for said gun including relaspclficatlon.

tively movable contacts, a gyroscope, and a E E SCHNEIDER. parallelogrammounted adjacent said gun Witnesses: and cooperating with said gyroscopeto 110- ANDRE Mos'rionnn,

0 sition one of said contacts so that the on- Loms GARDET.

